Families greet returning Schweinfurt, Grafenwöhr soldiers
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GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Several hundred soldiers with the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade returned from Afghanistan on Friday, the first of multiple groups expected as the unit ends its 12-month deployment.
Homecoming ceremonies at both Grafenwöhr and Schweinfurt greeted the nearly 300 returning soldiers, according to officials at the Grafenwöhr ceremony. Anxious family members, sleepy children and garrison leaders gathered for the 4 a.m. return in the Grafenwöhr gymnasium.
Keeli Gull, 20 months, squirmed in her mother’s arms as the pair awaited their soldier, Staff Sgt. Cody Gull, 28.
“I think she’s excited for something, but she doesn’t know what,” her mother, Hannah Gull, 25, said.
The 172nd deployed last summer to eastern Afghanistan for a 12-month tour. Plans call for the unit to be inactivated in 2013.
